"We're prepared to file this antitrust action against the NBA," union executive director Billy Hunter said of the possibility the union will take the league to court. "That's the best situation where players can get their due proce

And that's a tragedy as far as NBA commissioner David Stern is concerned.

"It looks like the 2011-12 season is really in jeopardy," Stern said in an interview aired on ESPN's "SportsCenter."

"It's just a big charade. To do it now, the union is ratcheting up I guess to see if they can scare the NBA owners or something. That's not happening."

Hunter said players were not prepared to accept Stern's ultimatum to accept the current proposal or face a worse one, saying they thought it was "extremely unfair."

Monday on "SportsCenter," Stern said offer on the table was no ultimatum, but "a revised proposal which met many of their concerns."

"When you negotiate for 2½ years and finally get to where the parties are ... that's not an ultimatum. That's a proposal that's ready to be voted up or down," Stern said.

"The chances of the season slipping away from us and the players losing that they have worked very hard to achieve ... it's really a tragedy," Stern added. He said the league had anticipated the union's actions, which was why it filed a lawsuit against the union and a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board earlier this year.